Gaius Verres

His extortion of local farmers and plundering of temples led to his prosecution by Cicero, whose accusations were so devastating that his defence advocate could only recommend that Verres should leave the country.

In 78 BC Dolabella had to stand trial at Rome accused of extortion[2] and was found guilty with the evidence of Verres, who had secured a pardon.

As a reward, the Senate sent him as governor (propraetor) to Sicily, the breadbasket of the Roman Republic – a particularly rich province thanks to its central position in the Mediterranean making it a commercial crossroads.

He robbed temples (notably that on the site of the Cathedral of Syracuse) and private houses of their works of art,[4] and disregarded the rights of Roman citizens.

[2] Another major charge leveled against Verres during his Sicilian tenure alleged that, during the time of the Third Servile War against Spartacus, he had used the emergency to raise cash.

He would, allegedly, pick key slaves of wealthy landowners and charge them with plotting to join Spartacus' revolt or otherwise causing sedition in the province.

[2] Verres may have had a more decent character than that with which Cicero, the primary source of information, credits him, but there is no evidence to counter the allegation that he stood preeminent among the worst specimens of Roman provincial governors.

[4] Of the seven Verrine orations collectively called In Verrem, only two were delivered; the remaining five were compiled from the depositions of witnesses and published after Verres' flight.